With younger generation of executives, Samsung conducts personnel reshuffle

Samsung Electronics has conducted a major executive reshuffle by promoting a record number of directors and vice presidents in their 30s and 40s. The company has appointed a swath of young executives, regardless of their career levels or work experience, to lead the company’s future.

Samsung Electronics conducted a sweeping executive reshuffle on Thursday, promoting a total of 198 new executives, including 68 vice presidents, 113 directors, one fellow, and 16 masters.

Of the new appointees, four directors are in their 30s and 10 vice presidents are in their 40s. The number of vice presidents in their 40s is at record high, and the number of directors in their 30s is the second best since 2012 when four people in their 30s were appointed as directors. The youngest to be promoted to a vice president is Kim Chan-woo, a 45-year-old, who is an expert in voice recognition and has worked as a software engineer at Google and Microsoft. The youngest to be promoted to a director is Park Seong-beom, a 37-year-old, an expert in CPU and GPU processor design.

A total of 17 new foreigners and women executives were promoted, an increase by seven compared to last year. In line with the “New Samsung” motto, which embodies the company’s ambition to create itself as a leading consumer experience and service platform, many software experts and consumer experience experts were promoted and appointed as executives.

Samsung Electronic’s Vice Chairman Lee Jae-yong, having returned from a four-day business trip to the United Arab Emirates, said that he observed how other countries and industries are preparing for the future. With Lee’s return, Samsung Electronics, which has just completed the 2022 executive reshuffle, is now geared up for the next year.


Do-Young Kwak now@donga.com